He stopped and swallowed hard.
This was the first time I had heard about a king. Luna’s father and Isha’s husband. Most would think that someone that important would get at least a small mention. Loic’s face sunk, his gaze drowning in his drink.
"She said ‘she'd speak to her father for me.’ But I didn't let her. I insisted she go with Rakesh."
His fist tightened, and the waiter brought his drink. A dark liquid with what looked like the berries chase had swirling around in it, clinging to both the ice and the inside the thick, faceted mug. The color of the berries seemed to bleed off of them and into the liquid, giving it bands of color.
Loic had his hand extended. Magical sparks popped from his fingers as he spoke.
“Rakesh took Luna, and we didn’t see her for the rest of the night. We searched for her for days. Then we got word of what had happened. Chase tracked her down, but we were too late.” He grabbed the glass. The sparks that were once confined to his fingers flashed through the glass. It shattered.
The bar fell silent, and everyone looked our way.
My heart skipped a beat, but I powered through my fear and grabbed Loic’s hand. I felt the cold liquid from the alcohol and bits of glass between his fingers but still held his hand. A little voice in my head was telling me to speak. I looked into his narrow, wounded face.
"Loic, it's okay."
He looked in my eyes again and the feelings from looking at him earlier started to return. The calm entrapment in his eyes, pulling me in. the feeling that I never wanted to leave these eyes. An added feeling was here now, a need to not see his eyes so sad anymore. It muted to colors and made my heart hurt.
I'm not positive what he saw in me, but whatever it was made him smile. Did he see something in my eyes that put him at ease? Was he able to hear this odd voice in my head as well? Whatever it was he softened just a little. The muscles in his hand loosened and his gaze started to melt from anger back to confident smile.
That, in turn, made me smile. So, I wouldn't question it. Even if Loic was just putting on a mask for me or the other bar patrons, it didn’t matter at this moment. I felt horrible seeing him upset. I wanted to help him.
I’d try to do that for anyone if I could. This was my chance for him right now.
"You're right. Thanks, Rayne.” He laughed shortly. “Maybe Luna's trying to tell me it's okay through you."
She talked through me? Yeah right. How would that even be possible? Is that something that came with a connection? No perhaps not, I questioned. The thought had crossed my mind of him only humoring me because of my connection with Luna. Was that still the case here? We now knew I wasn’t her, and yet he still acted friendly with me. Was he just continuing the narrative? Only being kind and flattering me because even though I wasn’t Luna, I was as close as anyone could get now.
What had Loic said about Luna? That her soul had shattered, so she couldn't be here. She couldn’t be in my head. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to spoil his smile.
The bartender ran over offering to replace his drink, but Loic calmed him down
"There's no need for that. Why don’t we just finish up?”
“Okay.”
The bartender ran back, and our food came out super quick, probably to try and make everyone feel better. We ate in relative silence, only commenting on something going on with a drunk around us.
We finished our meals. Loic paid and stood, offering his hand to me.
"Right, now why don't we split?"
"Sure."
After we left the restaurant, we went to a park that wasn’t far from my apartment. No one was there at this time, so there was a quiet serenity. The long path coming right off of a bridge over the canal free of people and lined with a long continuous hedge and foliage that looped the center making a keyhole like shape around us. All I could hear was the wind and the water bubbling and swirling from a fountain in the center. We approached the center. The fountain was surrounded by six benches all in a circular layout and just far enough away from the fountains mist to stay dry.
I picked a bench, directly on the path in front of the fountain to relax. Loic dug through his pocket pulling out a small set of headphones attached to a small music player that I couldn’t see the brand of. He put one earbud in and stood on his hands.
That was random.
I raised my eyebrows. "What are you doing?"
"After I eat, I do a quick workout." Loic corrected his stance and stretched before changing his motion.
He moved like he was fighting an invisible opponent. I watched him at each turn, fascinated. He kicked and spun effortlessly. The end of each motion landing in a solid punch, just as he had actually made contact with something. He flipped over the bench as I watched getting a full view of his body in motion. Both in awe and shock of the sudden movement above me. I followed his motion until I leaned back so far, I smacked the back of my head against the back of the bench.
He got back on his feet and saw my puzzled look. Without me having to say anything he laughed and spoke.
"It's Capoeira."
"Capo-watta?"
"Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. And a dance.”
"I saw you do that when I first saw you." My voice cracked a bit trying to recover from my awe-bench-struck wake-up call.
"Yeah, it's my main style of fighting. I’m sure you’ve seen the magic I use?”
I nodded. “When your hands turn blue, yeah”
He gathered that magic around his hand, and his fingers moved, settling into a locked gripped position looking like he was gripping the handle of a blade.
“I can also use it to turn my hands and feet into weapons.” Loic moved his arm, and the blue aura shaped itself into what looked like a knife. “You can't harm a Formless physically, so you have to get creative. I figured this out. It helps because Formless were thought to draw from some experiences of their victims to fight. Not a lot of people know and or are quick enough to keep up with my capoeira. It's quick, it keeps me light, and it's one hell of a workout.
He tossed the pseudo knife, and it lodged itself in a tree near him getting buried to the hilt. Then it vanished. Wow. Thinking about it I realized no one else could see the blades since they were made of magic. It was both surprising yet fascinating, both that he figured out that such a style was effective against the Formless.
“That’s a bonus as well, you never run out of ammo.” He proved his point by creating two more knives between his fingers before letting them vanish. I had also noticed he put details in the blades he made. Each shape was different, creatively making a different silhouette. Did his magic shift naturally or was he just showing off? It may have been nothing, but the show of creativity made me happy. Maybe because I loved art but also maybe just that he was taking time to explain this to me. When we had met, he seemed short with me, both in patience and temper, but now he was seemingly softer.
"So, you trained in this?" I asked, continuing the conversation.
"A friend of mines' Original practiced in a mirror so we both followed his lead. After a while, we adapted it to modern-day music. So, I can use it to just about anything."
I tried to picture the context as he continued to practice. He seemed laser-focused, not making eye contact with me unless I made a noise. I wanted to ask a bit more but where could I even start?
"You always use music?"
"In some form or another yeah.” He stopped and caught his breath. “It helps keep the pace. Don't want to get tired out during a fight, especially against Formless."
"So, even in an ambush?"
"In that case, I use whatever I can think of to keep the pace. Hell, I've even used Mother Goose Rhymes in a few instances."
I laughed. “You have Mother Goose in your world?”
“You hear things.”
“Hear things?”
He smirked. “You’d be surprised how many kid’s bedrooms are close to a m
irror. My mother would hear them and tell them to me.”
“Wait, you can hear through mirrors too?” So, every time I was near a mirror, I could be eavesdropped on?
Loic rolled his eyes. “That’s a whole different topic that I’m not getting into now. Have Chase explain it later.”
I don’t know if I like that idea. Did people from Mirror Image listen to us here all the time? Was there a way to turn it off? The fact I avoided mirrors might have aided me from the being spied on thing but what about everyone else? They deserved their privacy
"I see."
“It’s not as bad as it sounds. From my understanding, there are consequences for using mirrors long enough to actually get information. Mom had to make up a few things until she finally heard all of the stories.”
“So, you got disjointed rhymes?”
“Yeah, she did a lot to make it all work.”
He smiled and stretched again, then looked at me with a confident, goofy smile.
"Maybe I can teach you? The capoeira I mean."
I shook my head quickly. "Oh, there's no way I can do that..."
"Why not? You look like you have some athletic ability.”
I tapped my fingers on the bench seat. “Well, my dad made me take self-defense classes.”
Loic sat next to me. “Oh, and how would that go?”
“Well, I passed at least.” It hurt like hell when I took them. I had only been 13 when I was in these classes. I’d fail and fall but eventually I got okay enough at it that my dad was satisfied.
“All right, show me.”
“Wait, what?” he approached closer as he spoke.
He wasn’t giving me time to assess what was happening, how would he approach? what did he want me to do? What should I do? How close would he get to me? My heart fluttered again only to be overshadowed with the fear and uncertainty of what was happening. What time did I have to think?
None.
He took my arm lightly in his hand and looked at me. His grip was tight but not enough to hurt. I humored him and dropped my body weight to the ground pulling him forward. As he hit the ground, I used the momentum to stand and twist out of his grip. Then I backed off.
“Not a bad escape. That’s just using your bodyweight but not bad.”
“Still think I could learn capoeira?”
“We can see. All you need is a little boost."
He tapped my forehead with a flash of blue magic. For a split second, I understood the martial art. He swung his leg. My body reacted on its own and I dodged it. Still, on autopilot, I flipped over him and went to kick his back. He caught my foot and the knowledge left me. I balanced myself and choked out some words in complete shock.
“What—what was that?”
"Capoeira, plain and simple. Good job."
I did it? I did feel a little tightness in my scars but no pain. So, moving like that hadn’t hurt, just the areas being touched, like Juliet did earlier. So that was good. Now I just had to process what I had just did and why it didn’t hurt or why it was so sudden. The problem was I had no idea how to react to anything that just happened.
"But how?"
"Ah, My memory sharing trick from before in the ferry.” He grinned. “I can share some talents as well. Unlike the memories they can remain until I take them back. I shared a move with you, and you did it."
"That's amazing!"
How? How did I do that? I was never able to do anything like that before.
"You're welcome. This actually poses a question. You'll need to defend yourself from the Formless. How are we going to teach you that?"
"Won't you and Chase be there?" I huffed, trying to catch my breath.
"Well, I can't be everywhere, and Chase is bound to the museum."
I frowned. “Wait, bound to? As in he can’t leave?”
“Nope. If he steps out of the building, he is harmed by a curse that slowly eats away at him. I would guess if he fully leaves for more than an hour, he would turn to dust.
"How did he get to Isha’s?"
"By exploiting a loophole in the curse. He's under exile from Mirror Image, mostly because of Rakesh. He only gets away with it because the museum and Isha’s house share a border in both worlds. Like turning a piece of paper upside down and drawing the same image on its back.”
“Points for the art reference.” I nodded. “So how did he get cursed?”
"A parting gift from Rakesh. He put a curse on Chase just before the day we tried to save Luna. It bounds him to a place that has also lost its usefulness as he put it, and the curse chose the old museum."
“Has he ever tried to leave?” I almost didn’t want to know the answer.
Loic sighed, his face turning dark with the memory. " Years ago, right after I found Chase and the museum, I got ambushed by some Formless. Being thirteen, I hadn't perfected fighting them back with my power cut in half. Chase came after me. He left the museum, and fought the Formless, saving my life. He was only gone about ten minutes, but it was enough to cause some damage. I saw what happened to him. He basically turned into dust. He has countless scars from that event. I've also caught him trying to stick his foot out of the museum's garden gate.”
“So, wait…is that why he uses the cane?"
"Yeah, I believe so. It doesn’t bother him all the time but sometimes the old injuries hurt. They can’t be fully healed because of the curse."
"And he still fights."
"Yeah, better than most of the soldiers I know, but he has trouble now and then. That's why I try to be the first to swing." Loic looked up to the sky and took in a big breath of the cool air.
I thought about it a bit. Those grey marks I saw on Chase’s wrist, was that from this curse? What happens when it starts eating at him, only stopping when he goes back to his place? Loic looked at me and tried to regain the smile he had.
“So, he risked himself to save you. He really is like a dad.” I giggled a bit trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, Chase took me in after my punishment. He did treat me like his own kid, teaching me and scolding me all the time. I feel a little bad about what I put him through. I’ll admit I used to be a brat. Although I’m sure if you ask him now, he’d say I still am one. The biggest in the world at the ripe old age of twenty-seven. Oh, where did I go wrong?” He looked up laughing as he mimicked Chase’s voice on that last sentence.
What had Loic done? Should I ask? I took a breath. It was now or never.
“You never told me why you were punished.”
He glared at me for a second, and I flinched.
“I’m sorry, I just wondered. I’m sorry.”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I guess it might be fair if you know. Let’s say I was a dumb reckless kid, and I felt like I could take on the world. I was on a recon mission at the castle gates. There was a red-spotted Formless, and instead of sounding the alarm for Chases squad like I was supposed to. I went after it myself. Needless to say, it sent me through the wall, allowing it to get on castle grounds. I continued to try and fight it. Luna was playing in the garden when I accidentally led it inside. It almost attacked her. Chase and his direct unit had to take it down only a few feet from Isha and Luna. It was a close call that was deemed as my fault. So, the king felt it necessary for me to be knocked down a few pegs.”
“So that mark, the dragon tattoo I saw before?”
His hand moved covering part of his hip and stomach. His fingers tightening and his eyes narrowing.
Did that mark cause him pain? And if so, was it physical or mental?
“It’s part of it. It marks me as insubordinate, and it blocks me from using half my magic. I got off easy considering the king wanted to have me tortured. Isha spoke up for me, if she hadn’t, I’d probably be dead, so I got this mark instead. On top of that, I was told to stay in the barracks and tend to the other knights.”
He looked down and the implication hit me.
“Exactly. We know how that turned out.”
My heart sank. “I’m so sorry Loic. I know that’s a sore spot for you.”
“It’s fine, I wasn’t alone for it.” He made a brushing-off gesture. “Chase kind of felt pity for me, acting as a father even back then. My own father had died before I was old enough to really know him, and I lost my mother to Formless poisoning. I wandered around homeless for a year or so then I managed to find him here. Chase has been like my second father ever since."
“You’ve mentioned that before. It sounds good being so close. When things go wrong it’s good to have someone’s helping hand there for you.”
“Yeah, it is.” His face settled staying in a neutral gaze at the night sky. “Before all of this, he was just my commanding officer. We butted heads countless times. He was kind of a prick, but for good reason. You had to be back then. Formless appearances were at random, so we needed to be ready for everything. Now, they’re organized, using tactics like human battle strategies, and Chase can't even follow his own teaching. Yet, he's still a strong leader, even in his current state. I respect him more now than I did as my commander."
I didn't know what to say. All of these horrible things happening to all of them. Loic, Chase, and Isha all had been through some of the worst things a human can go through. It didn't seem fair. I saw nothing but good in Chase and in Loic, yet they have lived such terrible lives the past few years. It also felt like it was my fault somehow. It could have been because I was bound to Luna or because I was ignorant to all of this before coming to Italy. I felt like they all would have been better off if Luna didn't have to protect me. Then she would have been more open to telling Loic and Chase what happened. She could have been saved.
"Rayne? Are you okay?” He looked worried. “Steam's coming out of your ears."
“Wait, really?” I panicked covering my ears.
Loic’s concern melted into a chuckle. “No, you’re fine. Magic shouldn’t react that way.” He looked up, deep in thought. “At least I don’t think so anyway.”
His confidence was enlightening. I sighed and sagged against the bench, swatting at him.
Glass Souls (Reflection Book 1) Page 20